Blackberry Pie

Time needed: 1 hour and 50 minutes

1. Use your food processor and COLD butter.

   Use COLD butter. And COLD water. This will help the butter stay in small, solid pieces as you mix which will create a flaky crust (and who doesn’t love a flaky pie crust??). Using your food processor to make the crust helps the butter stay cold and creates a nice tender dough, plus it makes making your own pie crust from scratch super easy and low maintenance!

2. Work quickly and gently when you handle the dough.

   If you do work the butter into the flour mixture using your hands, make sure you use quick motions, flattening the pieces of butter between your hands as you slide your hands apart (one toward you, one away from you). The goal here should be to handle the butter as little as possible because the heat from your hands will cause it to soften and even melt. It’s ideal for the butter to remain cold and hard but be distributed throughout the flour mixture in small pieces.

3. Shape the dough into discs.

   Once the dough comes together, divide it in half and gently form it into 2 round disc shapes. This makes it easy to roll out later in a round shape!

4. Use a thickening agent in the filling.

   Adding cornstarch to your pie filling will create a deliciously thick and silky sauce around the fruit and it will help the filling stay together a little better when you cut into the pie. You’ll still have that gorgeous juiciness oozing out of each slice, but it won’t look like soup on your dessert plate (see the photo below).

5. Create a lattice top crust.

   Topping your pie with a lattice crust is both beautiful and practical. It creates that classic fruit pie look while allowing the pie to vent and the excess water from the fruit to evaporate during baking.  Use a pastry cutter or a pizza cutter to cut long strips and layer them in an alternating pattern.

6. Create a clean edge.

   There’s nothing worse than a pie with uneven, over-browned edges. Creating nice clean edges is easy! Just fold the edges of the dough under and tuck them into whatever pie dish you’re using.

7. Use an egg wash.

   Combine an egg and 1 tablespoon of water in a small dish and whisk them together. Using a pastry brush, brush on a SMALL amount of egg wash onto the top crust of the pie and around the edges. Don’t overdo it! Cooked egg on the top of a pie is never tasty. The idea is to brush a very light coating of the egg wash over every surface of the crust before it bakes. This will create a shiny finish and it will help the upper crust to brown perfectly and evenly in the oven.

8. Sugar the crust.

   Sprinkle a little bit of turbinado sugar or other coarse sugar onto the top of the pie after you’ve brushed on the egg wash. This will create a beautiful finish on the upper crust, but it will also add a nice crunch and a beautiful texture to the pastry.

9. Heat Things Up.

   Bake your pie at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for the first 10 minutes and then reduce the heat to 375 Fahrenheit and bake for 45-50 minutes longer. Baking at a higher heat at first allows the crust to brown beautifully and baking at a lower heat afterwards allows the filling to cook evenly without the crust over-browning in the process. It’s also a great idea to bake your pie with a baking sheet on the rack below, just to catch any stray drips before they burn onto the bottom of your oven (been there, done that…more times than I’d care to admit!)

10. Let it cool before slicing!

    Cutting into a hot pie may seem like a good idea, but all it will leave you with is a steamy hot soupy mess. Be sure to let the pie to cool to room temperature before slicing – this will make sure your slices are juicy but keep their shape. If you take your time and follow these no-fail tips on how to make the perfect pie, when you remove your blackberry pie from the oven, it should look just like this!!